title: Comparison of appendicectomy outcomes: acute surgical versus traditional pathway.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The acute surgical unit (ASU) is an evolving novel concept introduced to address the challenge of maintaining key performance indicators (KPIs) in the face of an increasing acute workload.
  
  
  METHODS
  The aim of this retrospective study was to compare the performance of the ASU (from June 2008 to December 2010) at Auckland City Hospital with the traditional model (from January 2006 to May 2008) and benchmark the results against other similar published studies. The analysis was on the basis of KPIs for 1857 appendicectomies, which form a large volume of acute surgical presentations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our results show significant improvement in length of stay (2.8 days, 2.6 days, P = 0.0001) and proportion of daytime operations (59.4%, 65.8%, P = 0.004), in keeping with other studies on benchmarking.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The introduction of ASU has led to significant improvements in some KPIs for appendicectomy outcomes in the face of an increasing workload.
authors.affiliation: Acute Surgical Unit, Department of Surgery, Auckland City Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Sandhya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pillai
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hsee
authors.forename: Andy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pun
authors.forename: Sachin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mathur
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Civil
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001062:Appendectomy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001064:Appendicitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D019985:Benchmarking; D019091:Critical Pathways / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006786:Hospitals, Urban; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017146:Models, Organizational; D009520:New Zealand; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013503:Surgery Department, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D019564:Unnecessary Procedures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: acute surgery; acute surgical unit; appendicectomy; key performance indicator; retrospective